No Matter What
by TwinkleLights123
Summary: AU. Percy likes both Rachel and Annabeth. He finds out the hard way that kissing one and trying to on the other doesn't help at all. Mid-evil times but slightly modern too. Percabeth. Poll for Thalico or Thuke!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I have tons of ideas to write down. UGH, I just _had _to get rid of some. I know you might hate me for this. But, I have to! Or else this story would be a load of crap. Yes, this story would have changes of POV's. I'm really sorry! Truely I am. The POV's would only be from Rachel, Annabeth and Thalia. But don't worry though, they would only change when I _have _too. But I hope you'll still like the story all the same. Review please! No flames. Any questions? Just ask.**

**~~Tina~~**

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~~RACHEL'S POV~~

Today was the worst day ever! My parents thought that it was best if I had a protector. A protector! I'm fifteen for gods sake! I was suppose to meet him today. I can't even remember his name. I think it was Perry Johnson or something like that... UGH! I could spit on my parents. I am so mad. But, I had too for the sake of the kingdom.

Who was going to rule if I died? I was the only child after all and my parents aren't going to let a stranger take over the throne. My parents, my people, they would like to know that I was safe. So some pleaded my parents into making me have a protector. My parents were going to do it anyway though. I really hate these people sometimes.

I took a deep breath and sighed. I finally got out of the bed and went to my bathroom. Yes, my room has four chambers to it, not including my bedroom. Bathroom, dressing room, a room for my shoes and a other room. My other room was used as a library, but I also put other things in it too. As I was saying, I went to my bathroom.

There was already some hot water in the tub. I took off my red night gown and slipped inside. It was really refreshing and it smelled like lemons, wild flowers and lavender. My favourite smell. My parents said they approved of the scent so I didn't have to argue with them. After soaking in the water, scrubbing and washing my hair I came out and wrapped a clean, fluffy white towel around my body and my red frizz which is know as my hair.

I rinsed my mouth with lemon water and spit it out. After, I scrubbed my face with the cold bucket of water that smelled like lavender for a while before wiping my face dry with another clean, white towel. Then I put it in a basket. I tried to comb my messy red frizzy hair but it didn't work that well. I struggled for ten minutes before I finally tamed it. Then I hurriedly went to the dressing room after. I was getting really cold.

I went into the dressing room and scanned through the wardrobe for a while before picking a green dress. It was laced with gold at the bottom and at my waist. It was something I didn't really like to wear but better then most of my other ones. They were so dang puffy! Then I went to the room for shoes and went to the green heels section. I found the most comfortable pair I had and slipped into them.

After, I hurriedly walked down the steps. It would take me a while since my room was at the very top of the palace. My high heels were clacking as I walked. _Clack! Clack! Clack! _Two of my servants, also my friends, were waiting at the bottom.

Thalia Grace and Annabeth Chase. They were my friends for five years now, so I've know them since I was 9-10. Thalia looked like her dad more. She had electric dark blue eyes and spiky, short black hair. She also has pale skin and a spray of freckles. Annabeth looked more like her mom. She has stormy, intelligent grey eyes and long, curly blonde hair and she's kinda tan too. They were both great friends.

Thalia's mom owned a popular restaurant near here. Her dad is usually never around. He works in a army or something and is already married to someone else. He made her by mistake but he loves her dearly and so does she. Thalia works here or at the restaurant. She has fights with her mom, but in the end it works out. She's kinda goth is you ask me since she wears lots of black. But she can still surprise me by being a girl sometimes.

Annabeth's mom was the most smartest lady in this whole entire kingdom and was a teacher. Her dad is a professor or something like that. Then her parents had a divorce and her dad remarried. Her mom decided she would stay as a maiden. She has two step-brothers. She works here or at Thalia's moms restaurant. She has fights with her family (not her REAL mom) but it works out. She's a tomboy and really smart.

" Good Morning Princess Rachel," they greeted, doing a curtsy. Annabeth says it more sweeter and Thalia only does it sweet when my parents are around. So I could assume my parents were out on a buisness trip. Good.

"'Morning," I say glumly.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asks.

"I have a protector now!" I said unhappily.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Thalia asks.

She knows I'm not the _best_ fighter. But I know that I _can_ take care of myself._ Ugh!_ Thalia and Annabeth are _so_ lucky. I envy them. A lot. They know how to fight and use weapons. I can hardly do anything violent without getting scolded by my elders.

"I can take care of myself!" I said huffing. I crossed my arms over my small chest. Thals and Anne already have it grown and full. Mines were just slow, okay? I took that from my mom, hers are way dinky! I _really _envy Thalia and Annabeth now.

"Whatever," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. Thalia shares a look with Annabeth and she laughs. I hate it when they do that. They've know each other since they were three so they were great buddies. I wish I could've done it with them. It's just really sad, you know?

"So," Annabeth asks curiously. "When do you meet him?"

"What time is it?" I ask Annabeth. She has a very useful mind and even remember what time it is! Isn't she smart?

"10:30 princess," Annabeth says coolly.

"In three hours," I say.

"You have plenty of time then," Thalia said breezily. "It's just around one. Then maybe I could see my cousin. He's just arrived to the kingdom today!"

"Great," I said with a smile. "We could talk to him after my meeting with my protector. I sure hope they ain't ugly."

We all laughed. Then we walked to the dining room together. They stood beside me as I ate. They had already eaten earlier at the restaurant obviously. It's really creepy when someone watches you eat. But after having servants doing that ever since I was born? I've gotten use to it. When I'm done eating my bread and berries, Thalia hands me a napkin while Annabeth hands me a glass of ice water.

"Thanks," I say. Some princesses are real snobs and are really selfish. Luckily I'm not. But sometimes I am, I guess. It's in my blood. But at least I'm not like those princesses in the Bauregarud kingdom. They are real snobs and stuff, you know?

Even if they are gorgeous like their mother. They surely don't get there looks from their father. But I hear Aphrodite is cheating on him. It was obviously true since she was forced into this marriage. Anyways, I only know one nice princess from there. Selina, she was really nice. The only nice princess in that kingdom. She has curly blonde hair and light blue eyes. She already has a boyfriend too, beautiful inside, out.

She was real lucky. How I wish that I can be something better. I mean, who would want to be me? I have frizzy red hair that can never be tamed and bright green eyes. I've got the worst parents ever and now I have to get a protector too. Hearing that summary would make anyone cringe and say yuck! At least I've got good friends.

"Can we go outside now?" I asked, handing my empty glass to Annabeth. I then gave Thalia the used napkin. Annabeth gave the glass to the cleaning lady, Margret. Thalia gracefully threw the napkin in the trash.

"Sure," Thalia said. "We can go to my mom's restaurant if you like."

"That'd be great!" I said excitedly. "But I have to make it back to the center of the maze at one."

"Gotta date with the protector I see," Thalia said teasingly.

"Too bad your coming with me," I said.

"Why?" Annabeth asks teasingly.

"'Cause I said so," I said, with my head held high. "I am the princess and you shall obey."

We laughed. We played this everyday. Whenever I ask them to do something, we would play this game. We usually switch from Thalia to Annabeth. It was actually fun. We walked to the hall and my butler offered me a brown coat. I shook my head, it was the summer time for gods sake!

We walked outside and the summer breeze was blowing. I loved it. I noticed the flowers were taken care off, my servants were watering them and planting them etc. I always loved to watch them do it. I actually wanted to try it but my parents forbid me. They don't let me do anything fun usually. Like, I wanted to scribble on one of my fancy dresses but they had said no. Mean right?

We kept on going till we saw the hut. It was crowded. Partly because of me. I had thought of a great idea and I even gave them money to get it more advanced. Thalia had thanked me so much that night. We walked in and there was a seat already reserved for me. It was a clear table with three elegant chairs. It was fit for a princess and only for a princess.

Cool, right?

Most places do that for me. They always have this special seat or whatever arranged for me. Like at the salon, there is a special, clean seat for me to sit at. At the school, there's a table specially for me filled with extra compartments and stuff. It's really annoying but it's pretty cool to have them do something special for me.

We sat down and I noticed two guys were shoving each other to get here.

"Are they new here?" I asked. "I never seen them before."

"Yeah," Annabeth said.

"They came here last night," Thalia said. "They're the same age as us. They also come from different kingdoms."

"Which ones?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Thalia says, pursing her lips. "But they both know each other. So they're probably from the same one. I haven't asked them yet. But my mom might know. She got to interview them both."

"'K," I say. The both of them were walking over now. One had shaggy dark brown hair and warm, dark brown eyes. The other had sleek blonde hair and light blue eyes. They were both really cute but not someone that looks right for me. I noticed they were both staring at Thalia. Also, they both had a bit of blush on there cheeks. _Ooohhhh. Thalia's got secret admirers! Cool._

Too bad Thalia didn't seem to be noticing. She was in an intense conversation with Annabeth using there eyes. Cue the sad sigh for me and the guys. For them, she wasn't giving them a second glance. For me, I felt left out. Again.

"Hey ladies," the blonde said coolly, winking. The brunette elbowed him.

"What would you guys like to order?" he asked smoothly.

"How 'bout some fresh berries and nuts?" I say. "We'd also like some water."

He nodded and tugged the blonde away.

"You know?" Thalia said, tapping her fingers on the table. "Those guys are really strange."

"They're actually pretty cute," Annabeth says teasingly.

"I guess," I say. "But they don't seem interested in us." With that comment, I scooted a bit closer to Annabeth.

"True," Annabeth says amused. "They seem to be interested in Thalia."

"Really?" Thalia asked. A light pink tinge forming on her pale cheeks. "I don't think so."

"Well," I say. "They seem to be staring at you the whole time."

"Maybe," Thalia muttered. Her face was becoming redder and redder every passing moment we were talking about those boys.

Then the guys came walking back. The brunette holding two glasses of water with ice in his hands. The blonde held one glass of water with ice and a bowl with berries topped with nuts. Yum. Those were our favourites. I liked the nuts mostly. The other two liked the berries better. The nuts were okay for them.

"Thanks," we said in unison.

"No prob," the blonde said.

"Yeah," the brunette said.

"So," Annabeth started. "What's your names?"

"I'm Luke Castellan," the blonde said.

"I'm Nico di Angelo," the brunette said. Then he put one glass of ice water at Thalia's spot and one at mine.

Luke put the bowl in the middle and shoved the one Nico gave to Thalia to Annabeth. Nico growled and shoved it back. Then it went back and forth, back and forth. I watched, sipping my water amused. Annabeth also raised her eyebrows at this weird predicament. Thalia blushed crimson, watching the boys fight over who's glass was going to be hers. Then, some other customers started watching too.

"Stop!" Thalia demanded holding onto both of the boys hands. They both blushed at her touch. I could tell there looks. It was totally obvious they both wanted to say aloud: _Hold me tighter! _I giggled. Annabeth laughed. Thalia glared at us and the customers. The customers quickly looked away and continued to eat as if nothing had happened. Me and Annabeth continued to watch.

I suddenly had the urge to grab a bag of heated corn. Maybe I should try that someday. I could be a rebel and scare my parents. I laughed at the idea. It would never happen, maybe when I fall in love. That would take forever, I've never liked anyone before. I wasn't going to start now.

**(For the heated corn part? It means popcorn. :D)**

"If you want to fight," Thalia said dangerously. "Then do it outside!" Her eyes were narrowed and her hands on her hips. If looks could kill, we would be at two funerals right now. They blushed, either in embarrassment and in shame or they think she's being cute for yelling at them. The guys were falling hard for our Thals.

Poor Nico and Luke. Thalia would never like anyone, same as me and Annabeth. They should just give up. They have a better chance to get a boy to like them. At our school, we were known to be the coolest girls and not one to just like someone all nilly lily like. I looked around. This is really embarrassing!

"I think we should go now," Annabeth says.

"Yeah," I say. "I think I'm late." We tugged on Thalia's sleeves. But Thalia stayed rooted at her spot. Arms across her chest.

"You promised," I continued.

"Please?" Annabeth pleads. She didn't want to attract any more attention then I did. The customers were starting to look again.

"Fine," Thalia grumbled. She let us drag her away. I noticed the boys apologizing with everyone. Thalia scowled moodily at any boys who walked by. She even scowled at babies! That is never a good sign. We continued walking back to the palace. Then we ventured into the maze. On and on till we reached the center of it. Perry hadn't reached it yet though. Phew.

"Thalia?" Annabeth asks quietly.

"Mm hmm?" she asks.

"I take back what I said before," Annabeth says.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Those guys aren't cute after all," Annabeth answered.

We all laughed. Including Thalia. Then I heard some foot steps.

"What are you laughing about?" a boy asked teasingly, stepping out of the bushes.

He had shaggy, messy jet black hair that stuck up in different directions and warm, playful sea green eyes. He looked 15 and he was really handsome, cute, perfect, and hot. He had a swimmers body and a sword at his side. He was basically my prince charming, even if he isn't a prince. He sure looked the part.

"My name's Percy Jackson, your new protector."

I blushed. I saw Annabeth give him a calculating gaze. She softened and blushed. Then she turned away. Then I glanced at Thalia. Her eyes were wide and she ran into him. 'Causing him to fall down and laugh. She laughed too.

"Hey Kelp for Brains," Thalia said teasingly.

"Hey Pinecone Face," he teased back. I gasped.

"You guys know each other?" I asked in shock.

"Know each other?" Percy asked, laughing. "She's my fiancé."

I could feel my jaw drop. I noticed Annabeth had the same expression. Thalia laughed and shoved him lightly.

"He's just joking around," Thalia said. "We're cousins."

Wow. Thalia, I really hate you now. How come you never told me you had such a hot cousin? I've finally felt love. Maybe I should become a rebel after all.

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**Hi everyone! Do you like it? Please say you do. I worked hard on it. Please review! No flames. Any questions? Just ask with a review. Any suggestions? Just tell and review! BTW, you can vote on who Thalia likes best. Luke or Nico? You decide! I'll give a deadline when the ending's near. I really, really hope you like. Free... um... chocolate? Yeah, that'll do. Free chocolate for reviewers!**

**Love and Hugs, Tina**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating on this story. Haha, I was busy working on Annabeth's New School, but now I'm done so I can work on this more often. Big thanks to bookworm1116, daughterofapolloandaprodite, J.98, shoshona79, KayCee, Ninja, True Believer16, tesa, Hopee2, Cit-Cat Mccoy, Alexandra Nightshade, amy-x-ian-forever, Aliaga Snow, xx Annabella Princess xx, someone, AnnabethIsTheBest, Zoe Zeus' Girl, LOST HERO, Random Person, anonymous, The Mysterious Dreamer, ARedRose4Me and ilovemybestfriends! :) You guys are the best. Please reveiw! Oh and j****ust in case someone gets confused, here are the kingdoms: Stoll kingdom, Dare kingdom, Bauregaurd kingdom, Gardner kingdom. And then I need one more, does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I AM NOT A 46 YEAR OLD MAN THEREFORE I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. :'(**

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Oh wow, it sure was sunny outside. I opened the window to greet the new day. The suns rays were shining down on me, the birds were singing and there was a light cool breeze. I could tell today was going to be great.

My parents were away to visit the Stoll kingdom, something about prince Travis marrying princess Katie from the Gardner kingdom...? Also, I get to hang out with my bestest friends in the whole world, Thalia Grace and Annabeth Chase. Also, (in a way) I have a date with Perseus Jackson! Can life get any better? But I guess I can't ask the Gods for anymore.

I did my regulars and dressed into my new silky sea green dress so it would match Percy's. Just thinking about him makes my heart stutter. If Thalia was here, she would've totally said: "You've got it bad!"

Did I mention Thalia has two secret admirers? I didn't? Silly me. They are the biggest stalkers in the kingdom! Make that the world. They are constantly following Thalia until she has to yell at them to go away. But even then they wouldn't go away. Personally, I think that Nico kid has more sense but Luke has the better flirtation skills. But whatever.

"Good morning princess Rachel," Thalia and Annabeth greeted, curtsying.

"Good morning," I said, walking to the kitchen.

"I can't believe that Travis and Katie are marrying," Thalia said, trying to make small talk.

"They _are_ really cute together," I reasoned.

"I always thought they would," Annabeth said matter-of-factly. "See, they always are fighting but making up at the end. It's basically what every couple does."

"You are too smart for your own good," Thalia announced teasingly, shaking her head.

"Har har," Annabeth said sarcastically, rolling her grey eyes.

"But they are going a tad too fast," I reasoned. "They're just about our age."

"Oh," Annabeth said in dismay. "You should understand the court rules. Most people marry at 14 now!"

"It's still hard to think that," I protested.

"Yes, yes," she said. Sometimes I wonder why isn't _she _or Thalia the princess around here. It's sad to admit but they seem to be much better rulers then me. Then I noticed chatter near the window. Thalia grimaced and walked over to open the window. We were on the second floor, but honestly it wasn't _too_ high so it wouldn't surprise me.

"Hey Thalia," Luke said grinning, his hands clutching to the window sill. Thalia glared at him.

"Tell her I said hello too!" Nico shouted down below. I'm guessing he was holding Luke up.

"Ugh!" Thalia groaned. "Just get out of here!" Then she pushed Luke down and I heard a loud _SLAM! _from the fall. I giggled. Thalia just shook her head, looking sad. Those guys should seriously give up... and grow up while they're at it.

After eating my breakfast we went out to the restaurant. It's what we usually do even if we already ate. We were just playing one of our favourite games, truth or dare. This was the best time to dish out our secrets and also to get a few laughs.

"Truth or dare, Thalia?" Annabeth asked.

"Dare," she said with a smirk, she'd never say truth.

"I dare you say truth next time," Annabeth said with a smirked. Oooh, she is such a smarty-pants. Thalia can't back out of dares (bad pun) but she didn't like saying truth. Thalia grimaced and turned to me and I braced myself for the worst.

"Truth or dare, Rachel?" Thalia asked.

"Truth," I replied, taking a sip out of my tea cup. I didn't want to say dare.

"Do you wish you can kiss Percy silly right now?" she asked laughing slightly. I did a perfect 10 out of 10 spit take.

"What?" I demanded, shrieking shrilly.

"I thought so," she said with a smirk. I noticed Annabeth looking uneasy of this conversation so she just kept her head down.

"Annabeth, truth or dare?" I asked. She looked up.

"Dare," she said.

"I dare you to slap the next male who says Thalia's name."

"Cool, a free slap _with _an excuse. Thalia, truth or dare?"

"Truth," said a sighing Thalia.

"If you had to pick, do you like Nico or Luke better?" Annabeth asked curiously. My ears perked up at that too. I wonder who she would choose...?

"I don't know."

"You can't say that," I sang in a sing song voice. She scowled in my direction. Then the restaurant doors burst open and I swear I heard an angel singing. There was Percy grinning my favourite lopsided grin, striding over to us.

"Hey Thalia, Annabeth," Percy greeted us, glancing over to us one by one. Then he bowed when his sea green eyes landed on me. "Princess Rachel."

"Seriously Percy, just call me Rachel," I said, rolling my eyes. Then as quick as a fox, Annabeth slapped Percy on the cheek. Percy look startled at her and Annabeth was blushing tomatoes, slightly. Then I remembered that dare I gave her.

"Sorry," Annabeth said, her eyes gleaming with amusement and she grinned. "My hand was malfunctioning." Percy, looking as confused as ever, just sat down.

"Jeez Annabeth, don't let your hand malfunction again. That hurts." Annabeth laughed and Percy chuckled.

"So we still going out riding horses today?" he asked me.

"For sure!" I grinned.

"You didn't tell me you were riding out today," Thalia said sharply.

"Fine," he huffed. "You can come too. Want to come Annabeth?"

"Sure," Annabeth said.

"Well, after you ladies are done eating, I'll pick you guys up." He gave us his signature lopsided grin and walked over to Nico and Luke. You can hear their conversation from here! So I decided to eavesdrop. Looks like I'm not the only one. Annabeth and Thalia were doing so as well.

"Did Thalia mention me at all?" Luke asked, his ears perked up.

"I doubt it," Nico said, slapping Luke on the side of his head. Luke stuck his tongue out.

"She didn't say anything at all," Percy quipped, taking a sip of who-knows-what.

"That isn't water," Nico pointed out and cracking up at the same time.

"What is it?" Percy asked, his facial expression confused.

"Err..." Luke said, scratching the back of his head. Nico was still cracking up. "Let's just say you don't want to know." Percy's eyes popped and he ran away to the washroom. I'm guessing he knew what it was. Then I zoned out of the conversation.

Then the doors opened again. In popped a guy that kinda looked like Luke except without the small scar on his cheek. He had sandy blonde hair and blue-green eyes that still weren't exactly sea green. He was a sun shiny, outgoing kinda person from the looks of it. And he was totally hot, like a male model or something.

"Hey! My name's Apollo. Can someone hand me a drink?" It all happened so fast I had no idea what had happened. One thing I noticed was a ton of girls (even the ones who _didn't _work here) rushing off to get water. Another was his striding over to our table.

"Princess Rachel," he said, bowing. "Nice to meet you." I regarded him under my eyelashes.

"Nice to meet you too, Apollo."

"And who are your friends?" His eyes were totally trained on Thalia. How come she's so dang popular with guys now? I find it unfair.

"Thalia and Annabeth," I answered for them.

"Nice to meet you Thalia and Annabeth. Excuse me for a moment, gotta use the restroom." Once he left, we were so going to talk to Thals.

"Thalia, you are so popular with guys!" I screamed/ said. Don't wanna attract a crowd.

"I know," Annabeth agreed. "First Luke and Nico. Now Apollo."

"Well, I'd consider Apollo," Thalia said, shrugging. "He _is _hot."

I'm pretty sure I heard someone coughed, "Is not." My eyes immediately darted to Luke, he shrugged so innocently that it looked fake. Nico was just whistling innocently so I have no idea who did what. Then Apollo just came out of the restroom.

"That guy back there needs some help," he said, shaking his head. _Who, Percy?_

"Anyways, Princess Rachel, I'm here to give you a message from Princess Silena," he said, then he tried to sound like a girl. "'Princess Rachel of the Dare kingdom. You are invited to my wedding in two days. Wear your fanciest clothing and bring approximately 5 people, not including yourself nor Apollo, my messenger. The more the merrier I say! Please say you'll come, and wedding gifts are accepted.'"

"Err, sure I could I come," I decided. "And I'll bring Thalia, Annabeth, Percy if he wants too."

"You need two more," Apollo reminded me.

"I don't know," I said shrugging. I noticed Nico and Luke stare at me, hopeful.

"Nico and Luke, if they wanted too."

"Yes!" the boys shouted, running my way. They were both extremely excited. "Thank you!"

"Your welcome," I said. Beside me, Thalia groaned. Apollo whispered something in her ear and she immediately smiled. The two boys glared at the oblivious Apollo. Then the men's restroom door opened.

"What did I miss?" Percy asked.

"Would you like to go to Silena's wedding?" I asked.

"Sure," Percy said, excitedly. "Going back to hometown would be nice." His eyes were blazing and it made me wonder why _he's _the protector when he acts like such a kid. He must have done something so stupid that it actually made him heroic. Wait... that didn't make any sense.

"Awesome," I said, breaking my train of thoughts. "Well, I think we should go out now. Before it starts raining. The clouds are rolling in and that's not a good sign." They nodded (except for Apollo, he was going to the castle) and we set out for the fields.

I got the beige horse named Pasteur. Annabeth got the grey horse named Gage. Thalia, Percy and Nico got black horses. Thalia's was Belle, Percy's was Blackjack and Nico's was Nutmeg. Luke got a white horse named Cupcake. What an unusual name.

"Pasteur licked me!" I giggled. Percy helped me get on then he helped Annabeth. I tried not to glare at Annabeth when Percy and her shared a joke. Belle and Nutmeg didn't seem to like Thalia and Nico as much. They kept on bucking when they tried to get on which I didn't quite understand why.

"Here," Luke said, feeding Belle some sugarcubes as Thalia got on.

Suprisingly, it worked. Thalia smiled at Luke and Nico looked as though he was going to murder something. Luke got onto his horse so Nico didn't have anyone to feed sugarcubes to his horse. He didn't mind cause he got to lead Thalia's horse around. Nico would make Thalia laugh here and there. So now _Luke _looked like he wanted to kill something.

"Wise Girl," Percy scolded to someone. "Not like that."

"It's not me," Annabeth protested, glaring. "She wouldn't let me trot."

"Here, let me help," Percy said. He mounted his horse and went over to Annabeth. He talked to the horse soothlingly and taught Annabeth some moves. I was about to get my horse to tramble Annabeth and Percy when they rode together, laughing.

"Oh," Annabeth announced. "It's raining." I stuck out my hand, it was indeed raining.

"Let's get home before we're soaked to the bone," Thalia said. We all agreed and brought the horses back to their stalls. Nico and Luke ran with us until we hit a street and they went left. We headed all the way back to the castle and jumped in.

"Why in the world would it rain in the middle of August?" asked Annabeth angrily. "It's freakin' summer, it's not logical!"

"It isn't," agreed Thalia. "But we can't control it. Now let's get changed."

"Ugh," Percy said awkwardly. "I guess I'll go now, I just came to escort Princess Rachel, as it's my duty. See you tomorrow." And with that, he ran out into the pouring rain. Oh boy, look who's gonna get a cold.

"Oh gods, I actually forgot he was there," I said surprised, laughing a bit.

"I can't believe you," Thalia said mockingly. "One minute he's the love of your life and now he's Mr. Invisible?" I stuck my tongue out at her and went to get changed. I wonder what would've happened if it didn't start raining.

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**Hey! So did you like it? ;) Sorry for the lack of percabeth and stuff. Oh, and when I meant voting, I meant on my page since I can't really count your reviews 'cause you might have reviewed and voted and that's not really fair so... Right now for Thalico: 26 votes. For Thuke: 19. Remember to vote. Reviews are loved, Constructive Critisim is appreciated and Flames are finally accepted. Review!**

**~~TL~~**

**P.S.**

**Would you like me to make the next chapter percabeth, thalico, thuke or prachel? Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiya! I'm _so _sorry I couldn't update sooner. I kinda got writer's block half-way through writing this so I just winged it. I know, excuses, excuses and the ending most likely is horrible. But give me a break please! Talent show is coming up and one of my teacher's forcing me to do it, which sucks. And my parents are fighting. And I'm pretty sure I failed my math test. (I HATE GEOMETRY!) And I have to get my shots tomorrow which garauntees no writing. :( ****Enough of my rant! And Rachel was pretty OOC those last few chapters, right? Yeah, I thought so too. Sorry 'bout that! I hate getting into character, it's pretty hard. I'm trying really hard not to mess Thalia up this time, but there _will _be a bit of OOC moments. You can point them out and tell me how it should be done. Thanks. :) And for the poll, Thalico: 40 votes. Thuke: 26. Better catch up Thuke fans!**

**Big thanks to the people who reviewed last chapter, Jaynie100, Vhee, mavk4444, percabeth fan, Julianna54321, kkkkkkkkkkk, Jessy, shoshona79, Alexandra Nightshade, percabethgraygreen, lilslybud, Angel's Detective, Hopee2, Aliaga Snow, Percabeth Lover 28, ACandPJ4ever, proud-daughter-of-athena, The Mysterious Dreamer, Imakiller54321 and ilovemybestfriends! :) You guys are the most awesome, the best, the most amazing reviewers _ever_ in the _history_ of reviewers. Keep up with the good reviews! :)**

**~~TL~~**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS AND I NEVER WILL... UNLESS I MAGICALLY BECAME RICK RIORDAN! :D**

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"How much longer 'till we get there?" I groaned. This is much longer than I thought it would've took. If I had known that it would be five hours long and I had to feel like puking most of the way, I wouldn't have even _accepted_ Rachel's offer. I traveled a lot, but I usually always stayed in the same kingdom. And it never takes me longer than three to four hours.

"Three hours and forty-five more minutes," Annabeth answered automatically, smiling a bit at me, up near the front with Percy.

I had to fight the urge to strangle her neck and pull out her head by her hair. Of course she would be happy while I'm miserable. She was close with her crush. Blah, blah, blah. I didn't believe in this love stuff 'cause it was positively disgusting. I can think people are hot or whatever, but crushing on someone is_ so stupid._

That's why I won't ever like anybody.

"The sun's setting," Nico pointed out, from beside me. "We probably shouldn't go out any longer then we have to. Or else wild animals or maybe thieves will come by."

"Then we'll be sorry," Luke agreed from behind us. He was riding the horse near the end. 'Kay, here's the order. Up are guards, then Annabeth with Percy. Next was Nico and I. After was Rachel with Apollo. Then Luke at the end with another few more guards. We all waited for a second to what Rachel would say. She _was _the princess here after all. She thought for a moment.

"Let's go ahead a bit more," she suggested. "I see that there's a village up ahead. We'll stay there. And I remember that place from my geography lessons. It's just a little bit away from my kindgom, I think. " We all squinted to see. There was nothing for miles, did she finally lose her mind? Maybe it was because the sun was setting, causing a mirage, but I hightly doubt it.

"I don't see it," Percy said, still squinting. He ran a hand through his tousled hair. "This is frustrating. Are you sure?"

"I see it too though," Apollo agreed with Rachel. "Just a bit more, I suppose. Don't worry, Percy." We all shrugged and got the horses going again. In half an hour, I guessed, we finally got to that village. Wow, how could I _not _see it before then?

"We should find a place to stay that also has a stable," Percy said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "What about over there?" I pointed in the direction near the end of the village. It was perfect so we can leave faster. We got there and a few stable hands helped bring our horses away. We got inside, it had a home-like feeling and probably four floors.

"I definitely like this place," Annabeth grinned. "Awesome architecture, look at that skylight up there! Very cool, and I like this dome shape too. But it could be bigger, of course. And I can always add a few things..." Annabeth continued to rant about architecture and Percy just ogled her for talking so long.

"We should get rooms now," Rachel pointed out. "Hopefully, they'll have enough for all of us. Let's see." She did a quick head count. "There are four soldiers. Then there are seven of us. So, eleven altogether. We can have the soldiers get two rooms with two beds. Then you guys can do that too, but I _have _to get my own bed."

"Wha-?" Percy began, before Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. She quickly explained in a hushed whisper before realization dawned on his face. Annabeth took a step forward to be beside me. She frowned, her expression thinking.

"Percy's really nice and brave and stuff," she began. "But he's so... _Dumb_, that's the word_. _I'm kinda beginning to think that he does it on purpose. I know he's smart, but _really! _How dense can one guy get?"

"He can be really dumb at times, yes," I agreed, chuckling. "By hey, he might be really stupid because he wants you to talk to him, kiddo."

"Liar," Annabeth huffed childishly, blowing her bangs out of her face. But I saw that her mouth was curling upwards a little. I had a gut feeling that Fate had something good in store for Annabeth and Percy which involves their relationship.

I knew I liked the Fates.

No offence to Rachel or anything. I _know_ she has a small crush on my cousin, of course. But I have a feeling that Annabeth thinks Percy's special and vice versa. I know I'm not lovey dovey and stuff, but they were _made _for each other, which sounds so cliché but true. Anyone with eyes can see that _'thing'_ they have for one another. It was sweet, I guess.

"I'll get us rooms," I offered after awhile, since no one volunteered to yet.

"Sure," Nico said. "I'll come with you." He stared at me hopefully. I pursed my lips. _I could always do it myself, as I've done it a million times before. But..._ I listed the pros and cons of bringing Nico along with me. _Yeesh, I sound like Annabeth now..._

"Sure," I agreed after a moment. He grinned at me and we walked to the front desk together.

"Hello," the lady at the front desk greeted us. "May I help you?"

"We just wanted to get five rooms with two beds and one room with one bed," Nico answered suavely, just as I was about to open my mouth. He grinned at me and I gave him a steely glare but he didn't even _flinch_. The squirt...

"Sure," she replied. "Here are your keys." She handed us six keys and studied us. "Well, have a good honeymoon, you two. And I wish a good honeymoon to your friends over there too." She gestured to Annabeth and Percy.

"We aren't on honeymoons!" I snapped at the lady. "Everyone is single and happy about it!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, turning red in embarrassment. Nico stared at me surprised and I rolled my eyes. We went back to the group and we collected our stuff to head to the correct floor. I gave random keys to the soldiers and they went to the fourth floor. The rest of the keys were for the third floor.

"I know how we should get our rooms," Annabeth said. "Cause it'll be boring if we just chose by ourselves. We should try to get to know everyone better, right?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "So, let's here the idea then."

"How 'bout we play rock-paper-scissors?" she suggested. "Whoever has rocks, they go in the same room and stuff. And with all the other ones too."

"That's a good idea," Percy agreed. "Let's go then. Rock, paper, scissors!" We all pumped our fists at the same time. I had rock, since rock was obviously the best. Annabeth, Percy and Luke had paper. Apollo, Nico and I had rocks. No scissors.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "Now that we have this, we'll just do it again. Whoever is left out, goes with the other person on the opposing team. Get it, people?" We all nodded and played again. Apollo had scissors. Nico and I had rocks. Again.

From the other team, Annabeth and Percy had papers and Luke had scissors. So, that means Luke and Apollo share a room together. Annabeth and Percy share a room together... And, of course, I get stuck with _him._

I wish I got Annabeth or something. Anyone. Other than that squirt beside me, smiling at me as if he saved the world. 'Cause, honestly, I think he'll just flirt with me the whole night which would suck. But the Fates obviously don't like me at the moment.

Actually, I've never liked them much.

I let out a small groan as I handed everyone a key and I watched them all walk away to find their room. Or room number was 304. We went into the direction of that room, lugging our bags behind us as I opened the door. The room had beige walls and a window. There was a door leading to the bathroom. Two beds were on the right side, a nice distance away from the other. Good.

I threw my bag at a random corner and immediantly plopped onto a bed farthest away from the window, calling it mine. He tossed his bag over at my corner and fell onto the opposite bed. Silence fell into the room.

"I'll take a shower first, 'kay?" I asked, I _was _pretty sweaty. It was a hot day.

"Sure," he said.

"And you better not peek or else you _will _lose your treasures by the end of the night," I threatened, glaring at him. He only snickered, but nodded. I grabbed my fluffy white towel, a simple black nightgown and blue trousers under. My mom doesn't like the trousers, but oh well. I don't care about other people's opinions.

I went into the other room and closed the door. I stripped myself of all the clothing and got into the tub. Fresh water, the steam lifting to my face and I gave a small smile. I dunk my whole body in, cleaning my hair. Then, scrubbing myself as cleaning and quickly as I could, while still staring intently at the door. _If he was gonna come in..._

He didn't, thankfully. He still wants babies, okay then. I dried myself and then rubbed at my hair. I quickly slipped on all the clothes then went outside. Steam drifted into the bedroom and I noticed Nico was fast asleep. Better get a maid to get freshwater now then... Don't wanna have him have a bath in the same water I used.

I quickly slipped out, with the keys in hand. I shut the door as quietly as I could. A few other guest stared at me and I glared at them. Was it so weird to see a lady with wet hair in the middle of a hallyway, all secretive? No, 'course not.

"Where's a maid when you need one?" I muttered to myself. I walked around the hallway twice and suddenly, a hand gripped my wrist. My eyes widen as I was about to shout and then I stumbled into a room. I stomped on the person's foot when I realized what happened and he groaned in agony.

"What do you want?" I asked, gritting my teeth. I balled my hands into fists to punch somebody, just in case. I mean, it could've been a physcopath for all I know. The light switched on and I saw Luke. _Whoops..._

"Hey, Luke," I said. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright," he hissed. "It was my fault. Really. Besides, it doesn't hurt that much." _Ego, much?_

I rolled my eyes. "'Course," I said sarcastically. "And why did you even pull me in here?"

"Annabeth was trying to find you," he explained. "She didn't know your room number and since I was in the middle of the hall, she asked me to keep a lookout for you. She wanted you to help her really badly. I'm not sure why though." Then he shrugged, a bit of his blonde hair falling into his eyes and he blew them away. It was kinda... Cute.

"Then why all secretive?" I asked, a blush coming onto my cheeks.

"I dunno," he admitted. "I guess it just felt right?"

"Okay then?" I said awkwardly, it came out as a question. "Err... What's her room number?"

"317," he answered. "It's near the end of the hall."

"Thanks," I whispered and left. _I still need to find that maid... Maybe I'll find her near there... _I power walked over. _313... 315... 317. _I knocked on the door quietly and Annabeth came and opened the door. She gave a quick, relieved sigh and pulled me inside.

"So, what do you need, Annie?" I asked. She ignored the 'Annie.'

"There's this maid and she keeps on bothering Percy and me," she said with a sigh. "It's really annoying. She comes, like, what? Every seven minutes." I peered over her shoulder.

"Where _is _Percy, though?" I asked.

"Taking a shower," she answered, glaring at me. "Come on, you're _my friend_. _Help _me. She's always pestering Percy."

"And it bugs you?" I asked teasingly. She remained silent. "Annabeth... Are you jealous?"

"What?" she scoffed, but her cheeks were rosey. "Why would _I _be jealous? That's absurd."

"Of course, whatever you say," I answered. "But, how can I help you? Got a plan?" The last sentence, I asked jokingly. Of course Annabeth would have a plan. She always does, for everything. Which are battle strategies, equations, even the most stupidest thing. Like, how to get food out of your hair.

"How 'bout you say that you're together?" she asked hopefully. "She's basically throwing herself at him, so I don't think he'll mind having her off his back. And you're his cousin, it won't be as weird as ot would be for another person."

"I don't think so," I answered, apologetically. "That's just... Out of character for me?" She sighed dejectedly.

"It could've worked, ya know?" she said. "Whenever you act, you're a natural."

"That's probably 'cause my mom used to be an actor," I said, laughing. "She was good. But she's older now so..." I trailed off. Mom quit acting a few years ago. Sometimes, she would act at the restaurant on some occasions and we earn a lot of money from that. But mostly, she doesn't since she's older now and is a bit tired of acting since you have to travel a lot.

"Just, try to shoo her way," I suggested. "Don't do it too harshly or something. We don't wanna get kicked out of the building! But, if things get ugly, I'll beat her up for you." I winked at her and she laughed and nodded, biting her bottom lip.

A faint knock. Annabeth opened the door and a lady, probably two years older than us came in. She had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She smelt like a faint cinnamon purfume too and she scanned the room. Her name tag read, 'Hi. I'm Calypso.'

"Where's Percy?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"He's taking a shower," Annabeth replied curtly. "You can go, if you like."

"Yeah. I'd like you to get fresh water for my bathroom," I said smoothly. "I'm in room 304."

"But-" she protested and I cut her off.

"Aren't you suppose to be working?" I asked innocently, giving a dazzling smile. "You have a job to do, I suggest that you don't get too cozy with people who are only gonna leave very soon." She stared at me as if I just smacked her in the face. She gave me a sharp nod and left.

"I love you, Thals!" said Annabeth, giving me a hug after Calypso closed the door. Then she laughed. "She can't complain about us, since we didn't say anything bad to her. You were amazing, a perfect actress! And her face was priceless!" We laughed together at her expression and Percy stepped into the room.

"Are you having a heart-to-heart moment right now?" he asked curiously, seeing two girls hugging and laughing. "If you are, I can just leave..."

"That's alright," Annabeth said. "We'll only talk a bit more." We talked for another ten minutes before I waved 'goodbye' to them and walked out. Hit two birds with one stone. I whistled, strolling down the hallway towards our room. She must've been done by now.

I whipped out the key and opened the door. Nico was still asleep, how could he not notice Caly-something come in? Or did she even come in? I took a peek into the washroom and the tub was filled with steaming hot water with a new scent. Yup, she was here. Nico must've been really tired.

I sighed. Better wake him up so the water wouldn't be wasted. I crept over to his bed and tapped him on the shoulder. A nudge, grumbled and he rolled onto his side. I rolled my eyes and poked him on the side. He grumbled something again and attemped to swat me away. I snickered, as his hands hit air.

"Nico!" I murmered, poking him on the side again. Nothing this time. Poke, poke, poke, poke. He flopped onto his stomach. Poke, poke, poke, poke. I sighed again in irritation. Will this boy ever wake up? He was worst than Percy.

"Nico!" I yelled into his ear. "Rape! Rape! Your fangirl looks like she's about to molest you!" He jolted awake and jumped up a feet or two. He whipped around like a ninja, scanning the scene for a crazy fangirl.

"Where?" he asked. I laughed and he studied me warily.

"Got ya good, didn't I?" I asked, smirking. "Time for you to take a bath."

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"I dunno," I said, plopping onto my bed. "Enough time for me to show a maid who's boss and get you new water. I'm guessing you're really tired." He shrugged, walked over to his bag and grabbed his clothes and towel.

"Er, thanks Thalia," he said, with a small smile. I returned it with a small smile of my own, and crawled into the covers when he shutted the door. I dug in deeper into the soft blankets and I looked up at the ceiling one last time before falling asleep.

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**Hiya again. :) I hope you liked it! (Even though it was horrible 'cause, again, I winged it.) And remember to review and vote for either Thalico or Thuke on my poll. I love you reviewers with all my heart! XOXO If you have any questions, REVIEW! If you have any suggestions also, REVIEW! I take the time to read all your comments. ;) And actually, I'm not sure if you call the person who works at a hotel a maid. I never really see them at the hotel, I just see the person at the front desk so... Sorry if I'm wrong! Reviews are loved, Constructive Critism are welcomed and Flames are accepted. :D**

**~~TL~~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hullo! :D Well... This update didn't take as long, yeah? ;) This is still in Thalia's POV, by the way! I might keep it that way for a few more chapters. The poll now! Thalico: 46. Thuke: 30. CATCH. UP. THUKE. FANS! Haha. And thanks for so many positive reviews! I love ya'll with all my heart. So give a big hand to: ilovemybestfriends, Awesomeness, C-Nuggets N.L., percabeth fan forever, Animal Charmer 11, Neptune-Minerva22 and I'mDifferent-GetOverIt for reviewing my last chapter! You people are amazing. :) Also, give another applause to my wonderful beta, Animal Charmer 11! :D You are super awesome for reading all this stuff and editing it too. And now for the chapter!**

**~~TL~~**

**Disclaimer: Must I? Fine... I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. :'(**

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"Where the heck am I?" I wondered aloud. I was in a forest, a think forest surrounding me. All I could see was green, and I could smell pine and wild flowers. I heard noises too, on my left was human chattering. On my right was a little girl whimpering in fright. I ran to the right, darting like a deer.

I guess I had to find out who needed my help.

My legs basically moved by themselves. I came to a place near a cliff and saw a little girl, maybe seven or eight? She had shoulder-length honey blonde hair. Her stormy, bright grey eyes were frightened and panicked. She looked like-

Annabeth.

The younger her anyways, I just know it. Annabeth's fifteen now, so... This a dream. I pinched myself on this arm, yup, it was a dream. Now, how do I wake up? I stopped coming up with strategies when I heard a _snap! _I noticed a dark figure coming closer to Annabeth. I cringed, I think I already know what was gonna happen and I didn't exactly need a replay. But my feet were planted firmly on the ground and I couldn't even move anymore.

Just great.

The lady threw her cloak on the ground. She had silky black hair and cold, dark beady eyes. Her hands and feet were bony, too skinny for a normal person. She wore a black dress, coated with silk like spun webs from spiders.

"Hello Annabeth," she greeted, the words were nice but the tone was icy cold. I heard little feet crawling over quietly as she said 'Annabeth.' I already knew what it was of course. Spiders.

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked boldly. You can hear in her voice that she was a bit scared.

"Arachne," the other lady hissed.

"I don't know you," Annabeth replied. "So why did you follow me? I've never done anything to you."

"Not you," agreed Arachne, nodding. She had a bitter smile on her face. "Your mother. I want to get revenge."

"Excuse me, but did you just say 'revenge'?" Annabeth asked and then frowned, slightly confused and then her face turned frustrated. She hated not knowing things, even back then.

"Yes, Annabeth," Arachne said. "Let me tell you the story. Years ago, your mother and I had a contest to see who weaved the best. I won, obviously. But your mother was too proud to admit her lost. She's clever too, unfortunately, she made some kind of perfume and sprayed it all over me when I was sleeping. Now look! Spiders follow me everywhere! I want revenge!"

Annabeth was at loss for words, her expression was unreadable. Annabeth always thought her mom was a wise, kind woman and now she didn't know what could be said after hearing it. I saw another figure approaching and my heart dropped to my stomach. The girl had shoulder-length choppy black hair and dark blue eyes. She had a spray of freckles fanned on her face and, well... She was me.

"Annabeth!" Other-Thalia shouted. "Run!"

That was a stupid plan. But you can't blame me, I was only eight! I know the police were coming and I could almost sigh in relief. But it wasn't over yet and more was gonna come.

"T-Thalia?" Annabeth asked, taken aback. The lady was surprised too, but she snapped out of it a second before Annabeth and commanded something. Annabeth tried to run over to other-me while she was chanting like a physco, but it didn't work very well. The spiders formed a wall between them.

"Run the other way!" hollered other-me. Annabeth bolted and scrambled behind other-me. The lady glowered and left, but 3/4 of the spiders stayed, focusing on Annabeth. If it could actually happen, I think my heart just sunk even lower. I really didn't want to see what happens next.

"I know what to do," I heard Annabeth whisper.

"Tell me quickly then!" The other-me whispered back calmly, but her-no, _my_ eyes were clearly telling another story. Great, I looked like a wimp back then. I brought my attention back to the two girls.

"Jump, stomp, whatever," Annabeth said, then squeaked as a spider began climbing on top of her shoe, but continued. "This is a cliff, right? We can get the spiders to fall down if we can make it drop. Just this little area though."

"But what about us?" Other-me said, frowning.

"We have to move back to the safe area in time," Annabeth explained. "Ya know, back near the forest. If this doesn't work... Well, let's just say it's a long way down." I could hear other-me suck in a huge breath.

"Okay, but there isn't another option, is there?" Other-me asked hopefully. Annabeth shook her head sadly. Then they silently counted to three and began jumping like mad kids having a tantrum. I would've laughed if it wasn't a near-death situation for me.

Little Annabeth was rather accurate. The mountain began to shake, vibrations hit me, even if this was a dream. Crows cawed in the distance and scattered. The edge of the cliff was crumbling slowly, the spiders stopped suddenly. The younger girls jumped onto the other side as it fell down, they were panting heavily.

"I think I'm scared of spiders now," Annabeth said slowly, before managing a small smile. Before other-me could even say anything, the ground was shuddering violently again. Annabeth forgot that it wasn't very high up, maybe 20 feet or something. The impact was still heavy enough and sent more vibrations coming up after it fell.

While Annabeth had jumped farther inside the forest, other-me had just stopped near the edge. I almost smacked myself, why couldn't I have been good at long jump like Annabeth? Why did I have to be good at high jump?

I almost screamed as I saw myself falling in slow motion. Other-me stifled a cry for help. Her eyes were wide and filled with panic. She grabbed onto a nearby root so she was safe... For now. Then other-me glanced down for a second before snapping her head back up and scrunching her eyes together tightly.

"Thalia, hold on," Annabeth pleaded. "I-I'll get some help, 'kay?"

"Go fast," Other-Thalia said desperately. "The view is not very pretty." Annabeth cracked a small smile before running away. The cliff was still crumbling, I remember what was coming next. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe properly. I heard the shrill shriek. I was now the younger-Thalia and I was free falling down.

"AHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, jumping up.

Nico yelped in surprised as my forehead collided with his. _Ouch!_ I rubbed it softly and stared back at him. He was really close, I most likely broke his eardrums when I screamed and gave him a bruise on the forehead when I jumped up so suddenly.

Whoops.

"What's wrong, Thalia?" Nico asked, ignoring the pain. "You look horrible."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, plopping back into bed. "I really needed that."

"Sorry," Nico apologized. "But it's true. Did you get a nightmare?"

"Yeah," I admitted weakly. "And I'm sorry I hit your head and quite possible broke your eardrums... But wait, why were you so close to me anyways?" I stared at him accusingly and he blushed a deep red.

"I was just about to wake you up," he said. I nodded, accepting the answer, but not fully though. The boy can't lie to save his own family. The Stoll brothers from back home should teach him a thing or two...

Then I remembered the dream. That was the day I became scared of heights. I remembered that during the fall I had broken my arm after grabbing a nearby plant that stuck out to save myself from falling all the way down. Fifteen minutes later, the police got me outta there and I was rushed off to the hospital as they tried to track down Arachne.

"So..." Nico trailed off awkwardly. He scratched the back of his neck hesitantly. "May I ask what you dreamed of?"

"How 'bout I tell you another day?" I suggested hopefully. "I want more shut-eye."

"Sure," he said. "But breakfast is starting soon though. And then we're gonna keep going, no stops."

"Fine. But could you bring me back some food?" I asked hopefully. He thought for a moment, glancing at the ceiling as if that would give him an answer. When he looked back at me, I attempted puppy-dog eyes.

"S-sure," he stammered. _It worked? _I thanked him and dozed back to sleep. It wasn't a nightmare this time. Something about elements and cheese... When I woke up, it was boiling hot outside. I swear snails were probably melting. The sun was out and shining brightly. Great. The door opened and Nico walked in.

"So the dead awakes," he said, smiling. "We finished breakfast awhile ago but you were still asleep. The food's a bit cold, but it'll do. Would you like some bread?" I nodded, grateful. I was starving and at that moment my stomach gurgled in agreement.

He gave me two slices of bread and I ate them quickly. Then he handed me a glass of water which then became three glasses. I burped happily. Oh yeah, that was really attractive. If Nico heard it, which he probably did, he ignored it.

"Man, you eat fast," he said, laughing. "You should have an eating contest with Grover. I hope you like enchiladas!"

"What's that?" I asked, crinkling my nose. "And who's Grover?"

"Grover's in the Pan Kingdom and he's my friend," Nico explained. "And King Pan created enchiladas so they're really popular. But they rather keep the secret inside their kingdom so that's the only place you can get them."

"Oh," I said, a light bulb turning on. "I heard about that from my mom. I'll definitely try it if I ever go to the Pan Kingdom."

"I'll bring you there one day," he offered kindly.

"That'll be nice," I said, smiling. "Thanks." I know, I know, it's not nice to get someone's hopes up. But I really wanted to try out enchiladas. And I'm not being food obsessed 'cause I'm still hungry... Probably.

"You're welcome," he said and grinned. "Now come on. We have to pack up, maybe go to the bathroom too before we leave. We're gonna check out soon and then leave. The wedding's tomorrow and Rachel can't afford to be late."

"Oh yeah, she'll need to stock up on some diamonds." We both laughed and then packed up, while playing silly games like 20 Questions. It was nice, having Nico for company. Maybe I was wrong about him. But for now, I only see him as a younger sibling.

When we left and went into the lobby, I walked over to Annabeth while Nico went over to the guys. Annabeth was staring at the wall intently, as if studying every fiber of it. But with Annabeth and buildings, ya never know.

"Hey Annabeth," I greeted.

"Hey Thals," Annabeth replied, turning to face me. "Where were you at breakfast?" Ah, straight to the point.

"I had a nightmare," I admitted. "So I wanted more sleep after."

"Oh, I see. Were the dreams the usual ones or a new one?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Old one," I answered. "Ya know... 'Spiders and heights.'" She pursed her lips, thinking about the event that had happened so many years ago. Even though it was a very long time, it still had a great impact to us.

"Ah," she replied. "Well... I slept well." A rosy blush formed on her cheeks and this time I rose an eyebrow. Whenever Annabeth blushed these days, it's either from the heat, embarrassment, or something to do with Percy. This time was Percy for sure. Do the math!

Annabeth + Sleeping Well + Blushing = Percy.

"Really?" I asked, teasingly. "Was it because of a certain someone?"

"I'll tell you another day," said Annabeth, still embarrassed. "Rachel's coming!"

"Hello princess," Annabeth and I greeted in unison. The boys momentarily stopped chatting and greeted her too. She _is_ royalty after all. She nodded and walked over to us.

"Hey guys!" Rachel greeted, smiling. "Did the guards come down yet? I want to get to Silena's castle by today!"

"But the wedding's tomorrow," I protested. "Who cares?"

"All the cool festivals are there today," argued Rachel, huffing. "For the wedding. Have you ever gone to one?"

"No, but-" I was cut off by Annabeth.

"Let's just get there as soon as we can," Annabeth interrupted, rolling her eyes.

After The Trip...

I stretched happily as I got off of my horse. _Finally!_ I thought we would never get here. We got here at a reasonable time, I guess. It was around four or five, I guess. We were at the castle, finally. A maid that helped the princess got a stableman and he helped put our horses away once we got off them. She told us that we can go sightseeing too and can meet Princess Silena after since right now she was checking the ballroom for tomorrow.

"Hey Wise Girl," Percy called to Annabeth, as Annabeth struggled to get off her horse. "I'll help you." I noticed Rachel glare at the couple. Rachel was struggling to get off her horse too and seeing Percy help Annabeth first was not a good thing.

A guard helped her off after, but Rachel was still fuming a little. I walked over to Luke and Apollo, seeing as they were the closest people. Rachel was _not_ a nice person when she's mad, not at all. She'll command you to do something _really _embarrassing to pass over it.

I still remember that pink dress.

"Are you cold?" Luke asked me concerned, seeing me shudder.

"No," I replied. "Just remembering something unpleasant." Apollo cleared his throat.

"Thalia Grace,

Remembers something not nice,

I feel bad for her," he recited and grinned.

"What was that?" I asked, laughing.

"A poem!" he said, astonished. "Don't tell me you don't know what that is!"

"I do," I said, smacking him on the arm. "But that was a silly one!" He showed me how mature he can be by sticking out his tongue. Yup, mature... Luke turned to me and did a loopy thing around his head, then pointed to Apollo. I smiled.

"So, should we got sight-?" Annabeth cut me of for the second time today. Her eyes were wide and gleaming, her mouth dropped open. I was afraid that a fly would fly in there...

"Look over there!" she yelled, nearly breaking my eardrums. "Can you see that design? It's so cool! We have to check it out!"

She nearly smacked a nearby person on the head, while trying to grab onto all of us. Rachel glared at her again when she grabbed onto Percy's collar. She hauled all of us to this building with curved patterns on the wall. It looked like vines with flowers, but they weren't painted or real, it was a design on the building. Hard to explain. But it looked pretty realistic and Nico tried to yank it off.

That was real smart as he nearly twisted his wrist. He stumbled into Percy.

"Ouch!" Nico yelped. "Those aren't real..."

"What did you think, Captain Obvious?" Percy retorted. He helped Nico regain balance.

"How 'bout we got sight-seeing now?" Rachel asked hopefully. "I want to find some new paint sets. Maybe I can get a new gown for the wedding, I hear they have the best clothing in this city. Come on!" Everyone murmured their agreement. Rachel was about to ask Percy something when he turned to Annabeth.

"Hey, I'll stay with you," Percy said, grinning. "But we can check out something later too. I saw a cool building back there..."

"Really?" asked Annabeth, beaming. "Where? I think I wanna see it now." Percy grabbed her hand and dragged her into a crowd of people. Well... Two down, a lot more to go.

"I'll just go look for art supplies now," Rachel muttered, power walking away. She grumbled a long string of words but I didn't know what they were. Apollo went off to into the castle to take a nap, Luke and Nico went to rent tux and I was left.

Just great.

I walked around. Did I need a new dress? Nah, I already packed a blue one in my sack. It's too bad that it looks ugly. I shrugged, maybe I'll borrow something from Rachel later. I walked around and saw a crowd gather around this one stand.

Well... I walked in there and somehow managed to squeeze into the front. They were just giving away fish, big deal. You were suppose to get a bull's-eye though, using an archery set. Why not?

I walked over and waited my turn. When I finally got there, I picked up the set and aimed. I let it go and got a bull's-eye. Wow, how is this tough? The old man at the counter glared at me.

"Three times," he said. "Before you get a prize." I shrugged, aimed and fired. I got another bull's-eye and another. He stood there gaping at me, before handed me a bag full of water and a white shimmering fish.

"You should name it Nico," a voice told me from behind. I whirled around and saw dark eyes.

"As if," I said with a snort. "Look! You're eyes are dark and your hair is dark. The fish is white. Complete opposites, it is not?"

"Sure, sure," Nico chortled. "Then what will you name it?"

"Bianca," I decided. "That sounds like the opposite of you. Why are you here anyways? I thought you were gonna rent a tux with Luke."

"I was," he said with a sigh. "But we didn't know where to look. We split up to ask for directions but then I lost him in a crowd and I've been wandering for awhile now." I stared at him.

"How do you do it?" I asked him in amazement. He rolled his eyes. "How 'bout I help you look for him, then? I don't really have much to do." He grinned and nodded. We walked around a few streets, not talking.

This could take forever. There were a lot of Luke-look-alikes here. Oh great, what did I just get myself into? We looked around before I saw a flash of black and blonde. They were Percy and Annabeth. Nico's eyes widen.

"Wanna spy on them?" he asked excitedly. I pursed my lips. _We have to find Luke,_ the good side of me said. _And no snooping! It only ends in disaster. But wouldn't it_ _be_ _nice to feel like a little kid again?_ asked the other side. _You can find Luke later._

"Fine," I sighed. He grinned and we walked toward the couple, but not too close or else we'd get spotted. We only got close enough to hear the conversation and keep them in eyesight.

"Did you already find a dress?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"Of course," Annabeth replied. I can imagine her rolling her eyes. "I always have everything prepared. How 'bout you? Do you need to get a tux?"

"Nah," Percy said. I think he was grinning since I noticed his cheeks growing wider. "Hey, Annabeth... Do you want to go to the wedding with me? Like, you'll be my date? But... As friends and stuff."

"Oh, what? Sure, that's alright," Annabeth said, flustered. Then he said something that was unclear. I heard Annabeth laugh and I sighed. I can barely hear them. I nudged Nico.

"What?" he asked.

"Let's get closer," I suggested. He shrugged and we walked a few steps closer. Annabeth turned her head around and I pushed Nico off to the side and began to scold him as if I was a mother. Annabeth looked away and I sighed in relief. We got closer again, hiding more carefully. Then we decided we hated hiding every few seconds so we went into a bush so we can get a better view.

"Look at that," Percy said, pointing to a dock nearby. "I love riding canoes, do you wanna try it?"

"Sure," answered Annabeth with a shrug. "But I'm not very good at it."

"I'll steer then!" Percy grabbed her hand and they ran toward the docks. Nico and I quickly ran over too. Percy gave the person watching the canoes some money and got into the canoe at the back. Annabeth warily stepped inside and took a seat in the front. They began paddling away.

"Do you have any cash on you?" I asked.

"I think so-" Nico began. I gave him a shove toward the man. Nico grumbled in protest and then handed him his remaining money. He gestured for me to go in first and I rolled my eyes. I got into the front and Nico went into the back.

"Do you know how to steer?" I asked him.

"Ummm..."

"Idiot," I grumbled and smacked him upside the head. He rubbed it and we exchanged spots. Boys... We began paddling near them, keeping our heads down so they wouldn't see us. They talked and then stopped near the middle of the lake so we docked the boat and ran into the bushes. We could return the boat after. Percy got off his seat and sat down on the middle part of the canoe.

"So, do you like canoeing now?" Percy asked, curious.

"Well, with you," Annabeth said and then turned a bit pink. "Well, since you're a good steerer. Thalia sucks, no offence..." I stuck my tongue out, even though Annabeth couldn't see it. Nico snickered and I punched him in the arm.

"I may have to teach her one day," Percy mused. "Hey, maybe she's afraid of water. That can explain it."

"As if," Nico said with a snort. I smiled.

"Yeah right!" Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "And don't mistake me for some stupid moron, Seaweed Brain. I'm not gonna tell you what she's afraid of." You better not, Annabeth!

"Darn it," he huffed and then laughed. "I still need to get revenge for that time she made me step in a tub of whatever-that-was." Annabeth laughed too. I grinned evilly, it was a tub of horse manure. Nico noticed my grin and backed away by a few steps and after a bit he cautiously came back.

"What did he step on anyways?" Nico asked curiously.

"Horse manure," I replied, smirking. He guffawed, almost choking himself while laughing. I had to clamp my hand over his mouth so Percy and Annabeth couldn't hear us. They didn't.

"Tell me something about you then if you can't tell me what Thalia's afraid of," Percy urged. "Then I'll tell you some of my secrets." Nico and I exchanged glances. We both thought of the same thing, I'm sure of it. Should we really listen in if they're deep secrets?

"But nothing too bad," Percy added, seeing Annabeth becoming wary. Nico and I exchanged glances again. Yes, we _should_ overhear then... Annabeth pursed her lips, thinking of something she should tell.

"I'm scared of spiders," she admitted, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She bit her bottom lip. "Since I was eight 'cause of an... Accident. Only Thalia knows and my family too."

"Really?" Percy asked, amused. "Well, that's not too bad."

"Then what are _you_ scared of?" Annabeth demanded.

"When I was six, my mom left for work and she was gone for a very long time. Two days, Annabeth," Percy said with a sigh. "It was scary, but it turns out that she just had to take care of grandpa after work and didn't have time to tell me since he was dying. I guess I had to understand that. So, yeah, I'm scared that someone close to me will dies. Like you, you're close to me."

"That was so cliqué," Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah! It would be even worst if he kisses her," I said, scrunching my nose up.

He laughed and nodded in agreement. But secretly I kinda hoped that he would kiss her. It was pretty obvious that they have feelings for each other and it's best if they admitted it soon. I saw that his hand caress her cheek softly after. I don't know whose face was more red when Percy realized what he'd done, Annabeth or Kelp-For-Brains over there.

"Cliqué act number two," Nico whispered.

"Sorry," Percy apologized.

"No, that's alright," Annabeth said, blushing.

"And sorry for telling you that story too," Percy said. "Most people hate hearing things like that."

"That's not too bad," Annabeth mimicked, smirking. "Honestly, I don't care, I like hearing long stories. Or short stories. In fact, I like any and all stories. Fiction and non-fiction. But I especially like books on architecture..."

Oh Gods, she's rambling now... Only a few knew what happened the last time she rambled. I shuddered, remembering poor old Kayla Austin. Nico stared at me oddly but I just ignored it. "I'll tell you later." He seemed to accept the answer and stared at the couple again.

Percy grinned goofily at her. "You're really different from all the other girls I meet. In a good way, of course," he added after seeing Annabeth raise an eyebrow. She smirked.

"Cliché act number three," Nico mumbled.

"I crave to be different," she said. "It's what makes you special. I don't know why people follow trends. If the new trend it boots, I wear flats. If the new trend is hair in a braid, I leave it down."

"You really are something else," Percy said, shaking his head. Annabeth smacked him on the head but was still grinning from eat-to-ear. I wonder if she knew that Percy's hands were all shaky-like after...

"Cliché act number four," Nico said. I smacked him on the arm.

"Shut up!" I commanded. "I can't hear them if you keep on interrupting every five seconds."

"It's not my fault if they're so-!" I slapped my hand on his mouth. He made a muffle sound and then stopped, realizing I didn't know what he was saying. Ahh, much better. Then I heard Annabeth fake-gasp in the distance.

"Whoops," Annabeth said mockingly. "I probably shouldn't have done that. You can't afford to lose more brain cells! You don't have enough as it is!" They pretended to fight and then burst out laughing.

They docked the boats and I almost got scared half to death. They would definitely need to pass our canoe. I gave Nico a look and he quickly understood. We both clambered in and went as quickly as possible. If I was right, Annabeth and Percy will go slowly so they can talk. Please say I was right...

I was.

We docked before them and quickly ran away. I gasped for air and Nico panted like a dog. Annabeth and Percy came a few minutes after us and by that time we finally caught our breath.

"That-" I said, shaking my head. "Was a close one, agreed?" Nico nodded furiously and we stared at the couple again. They were walking and talking about school now. Honestly, who does that these days?

"Hey," Percy said suddenly, snickering. "Do you see that stand? The owner looks kinda funny."

'Funny' was probably the nicest thing you can say to him. He looked way more then funny. He had a unibrow, and crossed eyes. Whenever he opened his mouth, you can see yellow, decaying teeth. He wore a brown suit and smelled of an odd odor. And here I always thought that this kingdom was for the beautiful people...

Annabeth gagged. "He smells horrible!" She crinkled her nose, disgusted as Percy laughed.

"Do you wanna play a prank on him?" asked Percy, giving a mischievous smirk that even the Stoll twins will be proud of. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"What did he ever do to you?" Annabeth asked, Percy opened his mouth to say something and she cut him off. "Never mind. Fine, what's the plan?" He slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Here's the plan," he said. He whispered it into her ear and she grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Maybe you aren't so dumb after all," she mused. He rolled his eyes and they went to the man's stand. They told the man they'd like to try out his game and he filled a bucket full of water. He explained that all Percy had to do was just walk to a tree nearby and not spill a single drop on the ground. Percy grunted as the man handed him the bucket of water.

"It can't be that heavy," Nico said, rolling his eyes.

I watched as Percy walked over to the tree and come back just as quickly. Maybe a minute or so and he didn't even spill a single drop. The man was amazed as Percy was walking back.

"That's the new record!" he announced. He handed him a silvery bracelet.

"That's for her," Percy said, smiling, he was still holding the bucket of water. Annabeth took it and smiled. The man pretended to gag and the mushiness and then he gestured for Percy to give him the bucket back. Percy grinned and spilled the water all over the man.

"You-you," he spluttered, surprised and soaked. A few people looked at the stand curiously.

"Run!" Percy shouted to Annabeth. He grabbed her hand and they bolted. Nico and I ran after them but we can still hear the man's loud shouts, threatening to get the police involved and such.

"You can never come back to stand!" he roared. "Never!" I heard Percy snicker as they kept on running. Man, where in the world are they heading anyways? They ran back to the spot where Annabeth first took interest to the building. They were both panting hard and then after they burst out laughing. They never noticed us so Nico and I slipped into the shadows.

"Oh. My. Gods!" Percy said, in between fits of laughter. "That was so funny! Did you see that?"

"No," Annabeth said sarcastically, face palming herself. "No, I didn't. I was looking at the floor the whole time. Of course I saw it, Seaweed Brain!" She hit him on the arm and he winced, momentarily stopping himself from laughing.

"Geez, Wise Girl," he said, frowning. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Well, I couldn't help myself," Annabeth said, laughing. "Could've you if you were in my situation?"

"Probably not," he admitted. She smiled and then kissed him on the cheek. I don't know whose face was more redder after that, Annabeth's or Percy's.

"What are you guys looking at?" a familiar voice asked us. _Oh no..._

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**Hola! So... I hope you liked the chapter. :) Who do you think _that _was? ;) I'm so evil, haha. Remember to vote for Thalico or Thuke on my poll! Reviews are loved, Constructive Critism are welcomed and Flames are accepted. Just press that pretty button on the bottom down there, go on... It doesn't take too long! Virtual chocolate for the lovely reviewers! :D**

**~~TL~~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! *dodges rotten fruit* Sorry I haven't updated a long time. I've been busy... Okay no, I had writers block. Then I re-read all my comments and I would like to give a special thanks to Prachel4never for giving me some inspiration! In her review she said not to only have fluff and add some drama. So I did. Kinda crappy ending but you will live! I'll make the next chapter extra long too. Thanks to crazyfanatic, anonymous, Prachel4never, TeamofAssholes, C-Nuggets N.L, Whispering Memories, ASenseofImagination, .United, percabeth 247, KayCee, I'mDifferent-GetOverIt and Animal Charmer 11 for reviewing my last chapter! And another round of applause to Animal Charmer 11 for beta-ing my story. You are the most wonderful beta I have ever had. *smiles* In fact, you're the _only _beta I've ever had. Haha.**

**Disclamier: I DON'T OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. WHY? :'(**

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"What are you guys looking at?" _Oh no..._

"Nothing!" Nico said with false chirpiness. Rachel raised an eyebrow at us before trying to look behind Nico and I. I moved in her way every time before she gave me a look of annoyance.

"Move!" she ordered. "If your not looking at anything important, how come I can't look? Lying 1-0-1." I chuckled nervously.

"Go ahead and look then," I offered. Nico gave me that look that said, '_are-you-crazy?' _But I already passed 'craziness' when I became friends with Rachel. I shrugged and when she pushed passed us, I prayed that Annabeth and Percy left.

"Is that all you're looking at?" I heard Rachel's voice in disbelief. "That dog?" In Annabeth and Percy's spot was a small Australian Shepherd. It cocked his head at us and barked.

"Yeah," I replied casually. "We didn't wanna scare him away." Rachel nodded and walked quickly over to the puppy, bending down to scratch the back of his ears. She said _'aw'_ at him when he licked her hand.

"He's adorable!" she exclaimed, happily. "I wonder if he has an owner..." A man ran over to us right after she said it.

"There he is!" he said. "I was looking for him all over."

"He's your puppy?" Rachel asked him, her face dropping a bit.

"No-Well, yes," he said. "But I'm trying to sell him. My Annie just got a bunch of pups and I can't afford to keep that much."

"Can I buy him then?" Rachel asked, her eyes widening.

"If you have enough money," he answered, looking distastefully at us. I guess we probably didn't look like much after the long ride. So Rachel pulled out three pieces of gold.

"Would that work?" she asked, smirking slightly. His eyes bulged and looked at the gold, then at her, then at the gold again. He nodded numbly, his mouth still wide opened and Rachel handed him the gold.

"Do you know Princess Silena?" he asked her, after the shock disappeared. "Or any other royalty?" I stifled my laughing, almost choking too. _Know royalty? _Nico snickered in the other direction. I wonder what Rachel's expression's like...

"I _am _royalty," she said, a bit uncomfortably. I think he almost fainted right then and there. Rachel scooped the puppy in her arms as he gaped. We quickly and quietly left and then I started laughing.

"I can't believe it!" I cackled, in between a fit of laughter. "'_Do you know Princess Silena? Or any other royalty?' _Priceless!" Rachel cracked a grin, she was blushing lightly. Nico almost fell over laughing at the mention of that man.

"Ugh, don't mention him!" Rachel groaned, but she still kept that grin on. "So, what do you think I should name him?" The redish-brown puppy was sleeping in her arms as we came up with names.

"Jason?" Nico suggested.

"Wait; What about Chase?" Rachel suggested.

"Annabeth wouldn't like that," I said, laughing. "And Jason isn't very fit for a dog's name."

"What are you here?" Nico asked, jokingly. "You disagree every name, and it's not even your dog." I smacked him hard in the arm causing a groan.

"What about Tyson?" I suggested.

"I love that name!" Rachel said. Nico nodded viciously in agreement. "It's decided then." We walked to the Bauregaurd castle and met a furious Luke. He stomped over to Nico and punched him hard on the arm.

"Where were you?" he demanded, glaring at Nico. He had two suits in his arms. "I was looking all over- Hey, is that a puppy?" Tyson looked at him with the big, brown puppy eyes. Well... He _is _a puppy.

"What's his name?" he asked in a more gentle tone, his eyes softening.

"Tyson," Rachel answered, smiling and nudged at me. "Thalia came up with the name."

"Nice name," Luke complimented and winked at me. I rolled my eyes, and crossed my arms over my chest. I didn't really wanna be here anymore. The sun was setting and I was _really _hungry. My stomach suddenly growled.

"We should probably go in," Nico said. "I think Annabeth and Percy already did."

"What do you think they're doing?" Luke asked, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows. I smacked him hard for even thinking they'd do something inappropriate. Annabeth isn't that kinda girl and Percy's a good guy, he has morals unlike the guy next to me.

"I seriously doubt it," I said, rolling my eyes once again. Rachel nodded in agreement and went to the gates. I followed causing Luke and Nico to come as well. Rachel told the gaurds who we were and got us in easily. A pretty blonde maid, wearing hot pink mind you, brought us to the throne room so we can greet the king and queen.

Once we were done that we got to go to our guess rooms. The palace was huge in the inside, I'd definitely get lost. I almost forgot that I was hungry. When the maid heard my stomach gurgling _again_, she giggled like a school girl.

I think I need to go to the nearest restroom and vomit.

"Dinner's ready in about half an hour," she said, still giggling. "You can come down then." I nodded and we continued. When we were done the tour, she showed Rachel to her room, which was three doors away from Annabeth and mine. Luke, Nico and Percy's were somewhere lower.

Why do girls get the higher room?

I went in silently and noticed Annabeth sitting down on one of the beds, just looking at her hands. I waved to her face. Nothing. So I poked her a few times. By a few, I meant about twenty times or so.

"HEY!"

"HEY!" I greeted loudly. She rolled her eyes and shoved me lightly.

"Have fun spying on Percy and I?" she asked, smirking. "With someone known as-" She widened her eyes innocently and spoke in a lower tone. "Nico di Angelo?" She laughed manically.

I have weird friends.

"I should've known you'd figured it out," I said.

"_I _figured out who did it," she stated matter-of-factly. "But Percy told me he had a feeling we were being watched. I just paid more attention afterwards. It was obvious who it was though. I figured out it was Nico then you. But I was sure it would've been Rachel at first."

"Why?"

"Dunno," she answered, closing her eyes. Then she reopened them after a few minutes. "Just to let you know, Percy and I acted the whole thing."

"Did you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She could be a great actress then... Maybe I can get my mom to take her in as an apprentice. She's an okay teacher. "You were really realistic. Percy too, which must've been a big step for him." She laughed.

"True," Annabeth mused. "We mostly bicker especially when we were sharing the rooms. It took us forever to decide who gets which bed. But I guess that's how it's suppose to be."

"Do you still like him then?" I asked, getting serious. Oh Gods, when I get back home I need therapy. Never, ever again will I utter those six words. Even Annabeth raised her eyebrow at me so far up that it disappeared behind her bangs. She eyed me suspiciously.

"Who are you and what have you done with Thalia Grace?" she demanded. I rolled my eyes and gestured for her to continue. "Well... It's complicated. But I guess I kinda like him." Then she raised her hand a put a little space between her index finger and thumb. "By that much."

"Not much," I commented. She blushed a little and I knew she was fibbing. But I guess I shouldn't bother her.

Don't want her to attack me with a boring speech.

"So, how was hanging out with Mr. Nico di Angelo?" she asked, grinning. I groaned.

"Don't speak of that name," I snapped. "He's an idiot for almost blowing our cover every few seconds! If I was a spy, I would never pick him to be my partner. Stupid boys..."

"Good to know I have Thalia Grace back," she said. I punched her in the arm lightly.

"She didn't go very far," I said. "So, what time is it? Hopefully dinner's ready, I am _starving._"

"Ten more minutes," Annabeth said matter-of-factly. "But maybe we should head down now so we don't be late." We both got off the bed and went outside. Annabeth pursed her lips, trying to remember which way to go.

"Left," she said. We turned that direction and went through a few corridors before I saw the most sickening sight. So sickening that it made the vomit from earlier come up to my mouth all over again. Just kidding.

But seriously.

Rachel had her hands in Percy's hair, Percy's hands were limped on his side but then suddenly he put them around her waist lightly. He kissed her back lightly. I stared in horror before looking away. Annabeth's face was bright red, no tears at least. Her eyes were glued to the scene before glaring a bit.

"Annabeth," I whispered. "Let's go. _Now._" She was still staring and I steered her the other direction before Rachel and Percy could see us. I power walked the rest of the way, still holding limply to Annabeth's wrist. She followed me, a bit dazed.

When we were finally in the dining room I set her down on a chair and placed my hands on my hips. I paced around for a bit to let Annabeth think for a bit. After, I sat down next to her.

"Annabeth, you alright?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah," she croaked. Her face was still red-ish though. "I just feel like an idiot. And I _never _feel stupid too, that just makes me more confused! I thought he liked me. But he kept on sending me mixed up signals. I hate him! I hate how he makes me feel! I hate that I always think about him! I hate that I think I still like him!"

I patted her back and she rested her head on my shoulder. She sniffed but didn't cry though I felt that she wanted to badly.

"You can cry if you want," I replied gently, trying to act like a mother but most likely failing. "It's only me here. No one else." I know she hates showing weakness and especially hates crying. I'm like her but this time I think she needs to make an exception. Crying will make her feel better.

"No," she said. She wiped at her eyes to keep the tears from shedding. Her eyes were a bit puffy and her face still abnormally red but she looked nice still. "I'm okay. I don't need him, I can find better guys."

"Yeah, you're a brilliant person, Annie," I said, reassuringly. "Don't think otherwise."

"Thanks Thals," she said.

"So, don't feel stupid anymore?" I asked. She cracked a grin.

"Not really," she admitted. "I'm just a bit afraid of what I should do next when I see them. And oh Gods, I forgot that I'm his _date._ How am I suppose to tell him I wanna cancel? 'Hey Percy, I saw you snogging Rachel. Just wanted to say I'm not going to that wedding with you now.' Or should I wait for _him_ to do it since he's _obviously _gonna ask Rachel now?"

"I dunno. But then you can't get in!" I protested. "Apparently Princess Silena-" I rolled my eyes and quoted. "'Loves to have love' or whatever that means. It's written on her room's door, I saw it when we were being given that stupid tour. She's obsessed with relationships and one maid said we must have dates." I scoffed, love is really idiotic.

"That's stupid," Annabeth said, frowning. "I'll just ask someone then to come with me as friends. Who are you gonna go with?"

"Dunno," I admitted. "I'm gonna ask a guy eventually though... As friends of course."

"Just..." she trailed off. "Don't make one of those guys get their hopes up though, alright?"

"Like one?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at her jokingly.

"Ew, no!" She scoffed. "It's just that they're pretty good friends now."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" asked a girly voice.

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**Hey everyone! ... Again. I hope you all enjoyed it even though it was completely pointless. Reviews are loved, Constructive Critism is welcomed and Flames are accepted! Remember to vote on my poll for Thalico or Thuke. Thalico: 50 and Thuke: 31. Catch up Thuke fans! You have... A long wait to go. Virtual cookies to the lovely reviewers! :D**

**~~TL~~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey readers! :) I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was gonna start writing this right after I updated my last chapter but I couldn't find any inspiration. Then when I did, school started. Gods, so much homework is being given and it's only the first week! D: I started this a few days ago so maybe it's not top quality _and _my beta is busy so I had to edit it myself. I'm sorry in advance. ): Anyways, thanks to Person, ilovemybestfriends, sam, fluffy-bunnies-are-so-cute, kynigos, C-Nuggets N.L, Emily, buzzlessbee, nancirulez, notloggingin, TratieLuver14-the girl on fire, percyjacksonishot, Zoegurl, BlackConverse24, KayCee, emeraldstarforever and I'mDifferent-GetOverIt. You guys are awesome! Extra big thanks to kynigos for being my 100th reviewer. :) Virtual cookies to my lovely reviewers!**

**~~TL~~**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like a rich man to you?**

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Chapter Six: Percy

What am I doing again?

Right, I was kissing Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The princess of the Dare kingdom. Oh Gods, when her dad finds out he's gonna put me on a stake and burn me. Then he would take all the Percy-bits and step on them until I was an even littler bits of ash, if it was possible. Then he's gonna store me up for a big dance and make sure dancers get to dance all over me by sprinkling my little bits on the ground before the show.

Awesome.

Rachel pulled back with a small, shy smile. I attempted one but it most likely looked like a grimace. She noticed and bit her bottom lip, looking slightly confused. Her normally peachy face was flushed, making her red hair look dull in comparison. Her eyes looked more greener then usual.

"Are you okay, Percy?" she asked, frowning.

I nodded. How was I suppose to tell her? I only kissed her because I _thought _I liked her. Well, either her or Annabeth. But now I was postive I didn't like Rachel, there weren't sparks or fireworks or anything my grandparents had told me about their first kiss.

Not that I was listening or anything.

But thanks to this kiss, I knew for sure I liked Annabeth. A dozen sailor curses I heard my dad say before ran through my mind all at once. I really didn't want to break Rachel's heart but I couldn't just lead her on, now can I?

"Rachel?" I asked. She looked at me, still frowning. At least I knew I had her attention. "I-I just wanted you to know that-" I stopped suddenly. I had absolutely no clue how to continue. She gave me a wry smile.

"You didn't feel anything?" she supplied. "I honestly didn't either, don't worry." I almost breathed out a sigh of relief. She understood. Then I back tracked, what did she say again? I eyed her, suprised.

"You didn't?" I asked. "I thought you liked me." I blushed, hopefully I didn't sound conceited or anything. I knew she had feelings for me for a while now, Thalia had blabbed yet again. Maybe I shouldn't have believed her...

"I did," she admitted, her face growing even redder then before. It hid all her freckles by now. "But I realize now that it wasn't anything _too _big. My feelings for you are completely platonic now. I think of you as a brother, not a lover."

"Thanks for that, Rachel," I said, grinning. "I think of you as a sister. I always thought I had feelings for you and... Uh, this other girl. But I'm pretty sure it's the other girl now since it's obviously not you, no offence."

"None taken. Now, who's the other girl, huh?" she asked, poking me in the stomach and laughed. "I thought we're siblings? Oh, oh! Is it Annabeth?" She winked at me and I'm pretty sure being burned was a whole lot better than this.

"No!" I protested. "It's a girl you don't know. Her name's, uh-" I racked my brain. "Vienna." Rachel laughed.

"Is that even a name?" she asked, snickering. "C'mon, admit it. You like Annabeth! Percy and Annabeth, sitting in a tree-" I rolled my eyes as she continued to sing the rest of the stupid song. We were walking down to dining room while she sang the song most of the way.

"Will you be quiet, please?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

She nodded but was still giggling like mad. Well, maybe not giggling since it definitely wasn't in character for Rachel. But she was still laughing pretty hard saying, 'Percy,' 'Annabeth,' and finally 'Percabeth' every few minutes.

"What's 'Percabeth,' anyways?" I asked, exasperated. She gave me the look that said, '_are-you-an-idiot?' _A look that can only be pulled off by girls since they think they're so high and mighty. I guess they _are_ more smarter than us on occassion, especially Annabeth, but she shouldn't be so dang smug about it!

We. Already. Know.

We turned to the dining room and I looked for a seat next to Annabeth. She was sitting next to Thalia and a pretty blonde girl whom I assumed was Princess Silena though. Wait— What? I frowned as Rachel sat next to Nico. I shrugged and sat down next to her.

Thalia shot me a quick glare. _What was _that_ for? _I shook my head and decided to talk to her later. Everyone was here now except for the king and the queen. They were too busy for some other stuff then entertain their guests. How nice. There weren't many people, I knew everyone there so I'm guessing Princess Silena didn't have too many friends.

"So, let's eat then!" Silena said, enthusiastically and dove for a piece of chicken. Chicken hogger. We all began to eat after that. The thing I found the most delicious was definitely the beef with the vegetables on the side. It had a great sauce and didn't taste too salty.

"Could you tell Annabeth that the beef is good?" I asked Rachel. She shrugged and whispered it to Nico, who in turned whispered it to Luke, then Apollo, then Thalia, then Annabeth. When it finally reached to her though, her expression was confused.

"Percy, your teeth is _wood?"_ she demanded, looking at me oddly as if I made out with a chicken.

"Wha-? No!" I denied, blushing. "I said, 'the beef is good!'"

She still looked mystified but tried it anyways. I sighed, these people really weren't good listeners. We ate dinner in silence but I could still hear Silena, Thalia and Annabeth whispering and giggling together. Well, Silena giggled anyways...

The dessert, chocolate pudding, was delicious. It seemed to melt into your mouth, turning into little snow flakes. It was pretty good, but not as good as my mom's blue chocolate chip cookies. Yup, they're blue. She gets colouring from trading in sweets since she worked at a sweets shop.

To be honest though, I think she deserves a better job then that. She should've been a writer or something. We all went up out at different times when everyone was done their dessert. I tried to catch up with the guys but for some reason they all had an excuse.

"I gotta find Thalia." Was Luke's reply with Nico glaring at him.

"I need to find a suit!" Apollo had said.

Nico didn't say anything though and had simply left without me being able to ask. Were they avoiding me or something? I shook my head as I walked up the staircases slowly. I wish Grover were here. But of course he couldn't since he has a much more important status now. I heard they named him a Lord of the Wild. It's pretty cool to be that high on the board in Pan's kingdom. I shouldn't bother him.

I stared out at one of the windows. They had a nice rainbow pattern and I sighed, picking up the pace. On one floor though I heard a few feminine shrieks. _What was that? _I crept closer to the door where I heard the noise. Trust me, I'm not normally an eavesdropper but this seemed to be interesting. Besides, I was bored and curiousity was killing me.

"You _have _to wear lilac or pink, Annabeth," I heard a girl say in displeasure, her voice was still sweet like honey and sounded like waterfalls though. It was familiar, in a way, but I still couldn't put my finger on it.

"Get real, Silena!" another girl yelled, probably Annabeth. "Those are horrible colours!"

"I think you should do it," another girl said, snickering. I bet that was Thalia. "It's _her_ wedding, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's my wedding," agreed Silena. "Thank you, Thalia." That just confirms my guess. I could already imagine Annabeth sulking or something. "Besides, don't you wanna get Percy back? He's quite the looker." Laugher erupted from Thalia.

"You- You did _not_ just say that!" Thalia cackled. "Aren't you getting married tomorrow?"

"I'm still in love with Charlie," confirmed Silena firmly. "But it's alright if I think Percy's cute, or any guys for that matter. Luke _is _pretty gorgeous too. But Percy especially. He is, isn't he, Annabeth?" I felt my face heating up. Was this _really _what girls talked about in their spare time? Annabeth didn't say anything and I heard a soft sigh.

"Fine, I'll get back to you," Silena promised. "Now, Thalia... What do you feel about gold or yellow?"

"WHAT?" Thalia screamed, outraged. I heard Annabeth laughing her head off and I had to listen hard to see if any of the girls said anything after. Thankfully Annabeth seemed to stop but I could still hear a few muffled laughter from her.

"I'm just kidding with you," Silena said, giggling. "But I was serious about the white. Either that, or blue. You wear way too much black and it'll seem like my wedding is actually for my death! Do you really want that?" I can already imagining her pouting.

"What if I said 'no?'" I heard Thalia ask.

"It's _her _wedding, isn't it?" Annabeth mimicked. I could imagine her smirking.

"Fine," Thalia said. I strained my ears, I couldn't hear anything. I was about to leave, when I heard someone speaking again.

"Good! Blue it is then," Silena said, delighted. "Midnight blue or baby blue? I say baby blue."

"I agree," Annabeth said seriously.

"Ew, no!" Thalia rejected quickly. "Midnight blue! Now, what about Annabeth?" I could definitely picture her smirking. I heard Annabeth groan and I winced sympathetically. I knew she hated these sort of things.

"Can't I have grey or something?" Annabeth asked, sounding slightly deperate. She probably noticed and quickly changed her tone to ice. "Pink _does not _look good on me at all. You don't want a badly dressed guest at your wedding, now do you?"

Silena seemed to think about that. "Fine. Yellow or grey?" I knew Annabeth was gonna say 'grey' without even listening in. When Silena got her answer, I heard her squeal in delight. I winced, _way _too high. Why did girl squeal anyways? It's weird.

Honestly, if you were a girl and heard a guy squeal in delight, would _you _be happy? Probably not. It's basically the exact same thing with guys except we're trained to hear and not curl into a fetal position when girls do it now. Luckily, Annabeth wasn't like that which made me almost breath out a sigh of relief.

In fact, I almost did until I remembered that they weren't suppose to know I was here.

Right. I heard Silena saying she'll pick out the perfect dress for them and send it to their rooms. They would probably be getting it sometime in the morning tomorrow or something like that. I tuned it all out and left quickly and, hopefully, quietly enough to my room. Didn't want them to catch me or anything.

I plopped into bed. Nico and Luke weren't here causing me to roll my eyes. I had a feeling they were looking for Thalia so they can ask her to be their date for the wedding. Too bad they didn't know she was busy up in the castle. I kicked off my shoes, taking one last glance at my suit before falling asleep.

I kept on dreaming of a blonde haired girl for some reason.

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**PLEASE READ. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT A/N. ****So, tell me how was this chapter was in a review! I know it sucked so it's alright if you say that. This chapter was mostly a filler, I guess? Or it's to explain why Percy kissed Rachel. Reviews are loved, Constructive Critism is welcomed with open arms and Flames are accepted. Remember to vote for my poll since this is your last chance. Thalico is winning by quite a lot! The last chapter is up next. I know, this was a short story, wasn't it? I never intended it to be very long. :P And also, I have two other VERY important things to say.**

**1) I have a ton of story ideas. I'll post them all up eventually but I'd like to post up two right now. I'll give you a summary and I'd love it if you wrote in your review which one you like the most. I'll update that more often. (hopefully)**

**Rules to Dating Travis Stoll  
There are many rules to dating a certain Travis Stoll. Now all Katie has to do is learn all of them. Rule #1: Never mistake Connor for Travis. Tratie.**

**Lost and Found**  
**Annabeth Chase finds someone's lost phone with a lot of valuable information inside. By returning it to Percy Jackson, she finds her long-lost high school sweetheart. Can an old flame be revived? Percabeth. Based loosely on Under The Canopy of Love.**

**For the Tratie one, it's gonna be a bunch of one-shots, I think around seven. The rules will always change, just sayin'. :)**

**2) I'm gonna change my penname soon. I think I'll change it to 'EmeraldLily.' So don't go around posting rude comments saying, 'You're copying TL!' Okay? Okay. :) Thanks for reading! Virtual cookies to EVERYONE.**

**~~TL~~  
**


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